Waning Moonlight
by Darkfire Galaxy
Summary: When the only cub of a wild Wolfblood pack falls sick, a group embarks on a journey to the human world for medicine. However, what they unleash instead is the furthest thing from salvation.
1. Prologue

Wolfblood

Waning Moonlight

Prologue

It was the crying that woke the alpha up. His eyes snapped open in the midnight darkness, his irises igniting. One of the young ones was crying. That meant there was potentially a threat. He crawled out from the comforts of his blankets, both the skins of sheep and regular blankets stolen from humans combined to basically bury him and protect him from the freezing night air, and crawled out to face the danger.

"What's going on?" he demanded, trying to project an image of authority and control while trying not to show that the was actually already suppressing the urge to shiver. The cold had always been his biggest weakness and they were already deep into the cold times. Snow thickly carpeted the ground making every step a trudge. The pack still looked up at his arrival and stood aside to let him through. A young girl was curled up and shivering, wrapped in blankets donated by the pack. She was coughing and shivering, yellow liquid staining the corners of her mouth.

"She is sick, alpha." The healer said. "I have few medical supplies left. The winter has killed off all of the herbs that are used in my remedies."

"I see." The alpha gave a solemn nod. "Save what you have for a last resort. I'll have to go out and obtain remedies from the human world. We've done it before." As he spoke, he turned to his betas. "Rajia, you will accompany me. Silon, you will watch over the pack in my absence." Silon nodded as she stepped back and went to do laps of the camp, checking the tents. Rajia approached the alpha as he went to grab more layers of clothing. It was the only way he himself would avoid getting sick from prolonged exposure to the cold. He'd once had a condition known by humans as croup. It had made his lungs feel like they were encased in a lead-lined casket and he wasn't about to tolerate a second ordeal of that, especially not when his pack needed him most.

"Alpha, I'd like to suggest we take Jamie with us. He came here as a tame from the human world. He knows their ways better than you or I put together. His experience will be invaluable."

"Go and get him." The alpha nodded without hesitation. "Wait for me by the Beyanath of this territory's last pack." Rajia dismissed himself with a stooping bow and left. The alpha vanished back into his tent. As he threw on more layers, he tried to stay focused on their objectives. They had to find medicine, which meant the former tame would be their guide. That thought would normally have galled the alpha and made him sick to his stomach, but in these circumstances it was a necessity. The child was the only one of their pack. Only one of their couples had been able to conceive. The rest of the mated pairs had tried, but to no avail. She absolutely could _not_ be allowed to die, no matter the cost. The alpha would save her even if he had to sacrifice the others to do it.

**Author's Note: So here it is. For the first time ever, I'm uploading _two_ Halloween stories this year. Chapter 1 will be up tomorrow along with Chapter 2 and Chapter 3 over the course of the next two days. The final chapter and epilogue will be a double-update on the 31st Please feel free to leave a review. Feedback is appreciated and really inspires me to keep writing. **

**PS: if you follow my account and you've had an e-mail alert previously about a story under a different name, ignore it. It was a previous attempt to upload this and I put the wrong title on it. I've corrected it now so only pay attention to the e-mail alert for this story.**


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The expedition was going badly. The alpha and his two companions had set out over eighteen hours ago and so far the town had been a bust. The alpha was beginning to doubt their guide's abilities and tempers were fraying.

"The pharmacy is closed due to the snow and the people who live around here aren't feeling generous." Jamie muttered for what had to be the hundredth time. Rajia suppressed a growl as he tried to hold back from killing the other Wolfblood. The alpha shot him a glare, knowing that Jamie was just weighing up his options. Finally, he spoke. His next idea seemed like a good one. "I suppose our next option is to either break into the pharmacy and risk triggering an alarm or see if there are any outlying houses near the village borders that might be feeling generous enough to spare medicine."

"What happens if we trigger the alarm?" Rajia asked.

"We'll likely be unable to use our powers without compromising the secret, get arrested and be locked up at least until next full moon." Jamie told him. "At which point they'll cart us off to a lab, run loads of tests on us and probably dissect us. I don't know about you, but I'm too young and beautiful to die."

"You're never too young to die." The alpha's voice cut across what might have been building up to an argument. "Cirelle doesn't have long. If we don't get back with medication we'll lose the only child in our pack. Eighteen hours is already too long to have been gone. We need to save breaking in as a last resort but we have to do whatever it takes to get her help."

"There should be houses near the village borders." Jamie nodded, warming to the option. "If memory serves, our camp is quite near to a place the humans know as Blackpool. I visited it once with my parents and I remember passing quite a big house. We could see the top of the roof over the tree line. A place that big is sure to have _something_ we can use."

"That's our next stop then." The alpha grinned, his faith restored in Rajia's decision to bring Jamie along. "Lead the way." As one, they took off at a run, buildings and trees blurring together. Their pace was slowed to an annoying degree because of the snow, but it was still sufficient that they moved faster than any humans could. Sure enough, the roof came into view within minutes. They slowed down to scope out the house and monitor for movement.

"I don't see any lights on." Rajia whispered as they moved in.

"There's no movement in these windows." The alpha dropped into a low stance and prowled slowly around to get a better view of the side windows. As he'd thought, every light in the mansion was off; but he could see movement in an upstairs room. The darkness made it impossible for any human to see, but his Wolfblood sight made him able to pick out a human figure moving jerkily against the blackness. "Someone's in there!" The alpha gestured to the others to join him as they stared up at the window.

"Ah, they're clearly drunk." Jamie rolled his eyes. "A mansion this big probably has a wine cellar."

"I have a few bitter leaves in my bag." Rajia offered. "I keep them handy for focus. If we can talk to them and shove a few under their tongue, that should sober them enough for us to ask them for medicine."

"I think it would take a _field_ of those herbs before _that_ is capable of talking straight." Jamie said, gesturing to the window. "Let's just try knocking and see if anyone answers the door. Maybe there are others living there."

"Well, it's a plan at least." The alpha sighed. "If it doesn't bare fruit though, we're going in there and taking what we need whether they're alright with it or not. Cirelle takes top priority here."

"Understood, alpha." Jamie nodded. "Since I'm most versed in human customs, may I do the talking?" The alpha nodded as he motioned for them to move around the front of the house.

"I'll help if you need." Rajia offered. "My unique charisma should be able to work them over."

"I'll have to lend you some of mine." Jamie rolled his eyes as he banged heavily on the door. To his surprise, it drifted open with an ominous creak. It hadn't been locked. Jamie turned to the others with an uncertain look. "You know how horror movies always start like this..."

"No." Rajia shrugged. "We grew up wild. We've never seen any of these 'movies' things."

"Right." Jamie mentally slapped himself. "Well, the start of it always begins with a door doing exactly that in a creepy old mansion where nobody's home. That's all of the good ones, anyway."

"Come on, we can't stand around bickering!" The alpha shoved through them and entered, trying to catch the scent of anyone in the building. "Is anybody here? We need to trade for medicine! We can offer food in exchange!" There was no answer, but the crackling sound from the kitchen indicated there was someone there. They crept through cautiously and peered in. The kitchen sat abandoned, but there had been a giant slab of pork cooking in the main oven. A jar of honey and a brush sat on the counter, indicating that it had been glazed beforehand. The oven was still on, but no one was manning it.

"This is unusual." Jamie paced around the kitchen and inspected it. "They've got their oven running but no one's here watching it. It's turned up high, so they weren't trying to slow roast this overnight."

"What does that mean?" the alpha asked, heading over to the cooker.

"I think something's wrong here." Jamie looked around and spotted an oven cloth draped over the back of a chair. He grabbed it and opened the oven, taking the roasting tray out and put it on the counter next to the honey. It had been in there so long that the entire top was black and shiny. He grabbed a knife and stuck it in, flipping the pork over. One look told them that it was beyond saving. All of the moisture had gone from the meat, leaving it like wood. "They couldn't have just forgotten this." They all left the kitchen, seeing that there was nothing else for them there. They'd checked the cupboards for medical supplies but found nothing. As they got into the main passage, a scent crept into their noses that almost took their legs from under them. It was impossible to tell where it was coming from but it smelled almost gangrenous.

"What is that?" The alpha growled, covering his nose and hating his enhanced sense of smell at that moment.

"Seriously, something smells _wrong_ in here!" Rajia was doing the same as Jamie was fighting the urge to vomit while trying to locate the source of it.

"I think it's coming from upstairs." He cast a grim look at the others. "Unfortunately, that's a place we also have to check. They usually keep medical supplies in a bathroom and they can often be upstairs. They might also keep them in the cellar, or the bathroom could be on the ground floor. We need to split up and check all three."

"If we find the medical supplies, what do we do then?" Rajia asked.

"I don't trust any place that smells this bad." Jamie shook his head in disgust. "When you find them, I'll check them over. We need them to be in date and for safety's sake we should make sure they're sealed. Also, there are some things you can't give children. It can be too strong for their bodies. It's not safe."

"Okay, so we'll meet back by the front door and go over what we find." The alpha nodded. "I'll check the ground floor, Rajia take upstairs and Jamie take the cellar." Rajia's expression shifted uncomfortably.

"I'd rather take the ground floor, alpha." As soon as he spoke, the alpha had darted over and seized him by the side of the head as his hands began to morph. Pain erupted as the alpha's claws dug into a sensitive point behind his ear.

"And I'd rather not have been woken up after only two hours' sleep to a sick child and have to be here at all!" he spat. "Take the upstairs floor and _don't_ test me again!" Rajia's expression was a mix of pain and disgust, but he nodded anyway.

"Yes, alpha." The alpha released him and went to check the other room, doing his best to ignore the painting on the wall of the man with a musket, a dead wolf at his feet and a hunting dog jumping up to him.

Jamie went to the end of the hall, looking for stairs to the cellar. He spotted them tucked away into an alcove in the hall, but something was off. Opposite the stairs was a dead end, but the scent of human perfume was incredibly strong. There was another smell too, but it was different. It smelled rotten. Following his nose, he found a lever and twisted it. A false wall slid away to reveal a laboratory behind. There was definitely more to it than met the eye. Test tubes filled with clear liquid were a sight to behold, but one especially drew his attention. The liquid inside was black and translucent. Floating in the liquid was a white flower that looked like it had see better days. As he approached, dark red spots seemed to be appearing on its petals. It was almost as if the flower had sensed his presence.

Intrigued, Jamie took the cap off the test tube. It was a decision he quickly regretted. The rotting smell instantly overwhelmed him, getting up his nose, in his mouth and seemingly attacking his skin and making it itch furiously. He staggered back and hurriedly re-sealed the room, coughing and spluttering as he dropped to his knees, every muscle suddenly feeling incredibly weak.

It was a good minute and a half before he was able to get up and continue with his initial objective, heading down into the basement to see if there were medical supplies. He went systematically, checking each room. Unfortunately, there was nothing useful. But the more he explored, the more he knew he hated this place. It wasn't a wine cellar but a dungeon. Shackles were fixed to pillars in the middle of each room and the doors were barred with heavy iron.

Having seen enough he turned to leave, but stopped in his tracks as he noticed a figure at the end of the hall. It looked like an older man, largely overweight and with a beard that ran most of the way down his neck. It was impossible to see him clearly, but something was clearly wrong with his face. His grin was a crooked slash that seemed to twist his features in an unnatural way. He let out a piercing scream and charged with a speed that seemed too fast for any human, the darkness seeming to blur behind him like a living creature. Jamie felt his wolf surge forward in response, but he held it back. Doubt pricked at the corners of his mind. This thing had no scent. It couldn't be real. Sure enough, it vanished as it reached him. But not before Jamie's heart rate had sped up a considerable amount. He was proud of himself for keeping a level head, but was unable to stop himself from bursting into panicked laughter all the same.

"What the hell is going on?" he muttered as he headed for the stairs.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The alpha moved through the living room and started to rummage through cupboards. Those that were locked, he broke open. He wasn't even trying for stealth. So far, he'd just found drinking glasses, glass jugs and ornamental objects that had no practical function. They certainly wouldn't heal a wild cub. He'd also encountered a glass bottle on the mantle piece with some strange white flowers in. As he'd approached, aggressive red spots had erupted over its petals. It was odd, but irrelevant. He'd also found a thick book with pictures in called 'Wedding Album of Bob and Mary Driscoll'. Again, it was irrelevant.

Moving over to the last cabinet, the alpha tried the door. It was locked, so he tore it open just as he had all the others who'd put up a fight. There was nothing. Just some sleeves made of tough paper with some large black plastic disks inside. He smashed his fists against the cabinet and got up, just as he heard Rajia calling out from upstairs. He raced to the stairwell to hear clearer.

"Alpha, I've found a human here! We might be able to trade with her!" The alpha ran up the stairs to see what was going on. He reached the top to see Rajia standing there waiting for him. There was no human with him.

"Well, where is she?" he demanded.

"She's a room with a plastic curtain and leaning over a shiny white bowl of some kind." Rajia told him. "I don't think she's well. That means she should be quite agreeable to our terms."

"You idiot!" The alpha smacked Rajia round the back of the head. "Why bother negotiating with a sick human when she's too weak to stop us just _taking_ the medicine? All humans are the ghosts of wolves that will never howl again." The alpha took an annoyed breath. "Show me where she is." Rajia led the way, taking the alpha to the bathroom. Sure enough, there was an older looking woman who was looking incredibly ill. She'd clearly been sick and her face was pale. Rivers of sweat ran off her, making her nightgown cling to her. In spite of this, she pulled her dressing gown around her tighter amidst her uncontrollable shivering. The name 'Mary' was embroidered on it in gold italics.

"You shouldn't have come here." Her words were slurred as her jaw hung somewhat loosely. Her eye carried a vacant expression, almost like she wasn't entirely focused. "Its... We didn't know..."

"We need medicine for a young one at our camp." The alpha explained. "Where do you keep it?" Her eyes flicked upward to a cabinet on the wall. The alpha signalled to Rajia who moved over and broke the lock with a fierce elbow and pulled the door open. The cabinet was full of assorted boxes and bottles, many baring colourful designs. They both liked what they saw. "I'll go and get Jamie." The alpha threw Rajia the bag he was carrying. "Grab all of that and he can sort through it." Rajia nodded and started throwing the medicine into the bag.

"You..." Mary was trying to say something, but it was barely audible. Rajia got closer to her so he could hear better. "You can't be exposed. You can't leave. There'll be..." The woman leaned back to try and ease her muscles, but she instantly seemed to have trouble breathing. Rajia picked her up and flipped her over so that she was leaning over the toilet bowl again. At that moment, the alpha reappeared with Jamie at his side. Something was visibly wrong. Rajia could hear Jamie's heartbeat and it was through the roof. He'd turned almost as pale as Mary was and was also sweating profusely. He crouched down by the bag of medicine and started rummaging through it, but was shaking and erratic in his motions.

"Vitamin C... Need that... Aspirin... Unsafe... Beta Blockers... Don't need those... Strepsils... Leave them. They're blackcurrant. Toxic crap."

"Jamie, is everything okay?" Rajia looked at him, concerned. "You don't look right."

"I found him like that." The alpha shrugged as he looked at Jamie sifting through the medication. "I've no idea what happened but I just pray whatever Cirelle has isn't contagious. If he has it and caught it from her, then the whole camp could be infected by now."

"I have it, alpha!" Jamie held up the medication they needed with trembling hands. "It's all sealed and in date. It should be fine."

"Get it in the bag and let's take our leave!" The alpha stormed out of the room and headed to the stairs. "I don't want to spend another second in this place." Rajia moved to obey, helping Jamie to shove the medicine into the bag. Jamie took it and hurried out after the alpha, stumbling over his own legs which seemed to be weakening. Feeling just as eager to leave, Rajia stood up to go. As he moved to the door, he stumbled over Mary's outstretched leg. Only then did he realised that she'd slumped against the edge of the bathtub. Her breathing had stopped and her skin had turned cold.

As they got outside, they stepped into the clean and crisp night air. It was refreshingly cold and Jamie instantly threw himself to the floor, smothering snow onto his face in a frantic effort to cool off. Once he'd picked himself up, they carried on walking. None of them spoke a word, but each of them wanted to put as much distance between themselves and the mansion as possible. As they passed the metal door of the garage, there was a violent bang from the other side that made the shutter bend forwards for a split second to bang against its runners.

"What was that?" Rajia asked, turning to look as they hurried on.

"Ignore it!" the alpha snapped, not wanting to know one way or the other. "It was just the wind. Take Jamie, he's struggling." Not bothering to point out the fact that there wasn't even a breeze, Rajia did as he was told. Jamie was clearly sick. His temperature was rapidly fluctuating hot and cold against Rajia's skin. As they walked back, he also began having erupting coughing fits that often resulted in him spitting out dark liquid. By the time they made it back to the camp, Rajia had also started coughing.

"Silon!" The alpha's bellow radiated throughout the camp. She emerged from one of the tents, taking in the group's condition and beckoning others over to assist. One of them went to take Jamie, but the alpha stopped them. "No! I don't want anyone else getting this if it's contagious." He held out the bag with the medicine in to the healer. "Take this and see that Cirelle gets it. Anything that she needs water to take, melt some snow. We have more than enough around us. Keep her isolated in that tent. Rajia will get Jamie into a separate tent and we will quarantine him there. We'll keep Rajia under watch too. I will head to my own tent and keep a close watch on my own condition. I will only call for help if there is an emergency. Other than that, do _not_ disturb me unless it's vital. I can't afford to get ill in the cold if I'm not already."

"Understood, alpha." The healer took the bag and bowed in understanding. "I will tend to the sick. Nothing short of a death will see you disturbed."

"I hope you said that in jest." The alpha didn't wait for a response. He simply went over to his tent and lifted the animal skin flap, ducking inside and leaving the healer alone with her growing list of problems. She guided Rajia into a free tent and told him to set Jamie down before ushering him into the next one over and making him comfortable. She ordered everyone else to return to their own tents and stay there until morning. She'd see where the pack was at from there.

Less than two hours later, she realised that it had been pointless. They were already past the point of containment. More and more pack members were beginning to suffer coughing fits, the same dark liquid pouring from each of their mouths and staining their bedding. She couldn't melt snow quick enough to give them all water. Jamie was the worst without question. His condition had dropped like a bird made of lead ever since his return. But it was only as she went to check on him after she noticed Cirelle's fever break that she realised what fate awaited the rest of the pack unless she took frantic measures. Jamie stared up at the roof of his tent. The light had left his eyes and dark red stains cascaded from his mouth onto his shirt. His skin was icy to the touch and had begun to turn grey. The muscles of his face seemed to have loosened somewhat, causing his jaw to hang at an unnatural angle. She knew instantly that there was only one option.

"Alpha?" she whispered as loudly as she dared, sticking her head through the tent flaps. He sat up instantly, eyes glowing yellow in the darkness. She could see his anger visibly at his orders being denied and so knew she had to get the first word in. "Alpha, we have an emergency."

"What kind of emergency?" The alpha got to his feet and made his way over. If she'd woken him up for something trivial...

"When you retired to your tent, I told you the requirements of my possibly disturbing you." The healer kept her tone level. "As of now, those requirements have been met. Jamie breathed his last two minutes ago. The number of infected has grown beyond my count or control." The alpha stormed outside. He hadn't bothered shedding layers, so he was still wearing everything he'd been in the mansion with. He'd anticipated the chances of just such an emergency.

"How is Cirelle?" he asked as he made his way to the centre of the camp.

"Her fever broke and the medication is taking effect well. She's looking strong enough to move now." The healer told him. "I also slipped a leaf of bitter herb under her tongue to bolster the effects. She'll be alert in no time." The alpha took in what she'd said but didn't acknowledge. Instead, he threw his head back and raised his voice so that the entire camp heard him.

"Hear me, my brethren! All who still stand, make yourselves known before me!" Wolfbloods started emerging from their tents. It was a pitiful turnout. Before it all started he'd had a pack nearly forty strong. Now, ten at most stood before him. He took in the individuals that were there and all the worst outcomes ran through his head. That was when the healer started coughing. He whirled to face her, fearing the worst.

"Forgive me, alpha. It's this cold air. It gets caught in my throat sometimes." She wasn't fooling him. She was sweating and had also begun to pale in the face.

"Go and attend to the pack as best you can. Get out of the cold." She nodded and ducked into a tent where six infectees were packed together. With her gone, he turned to a young Wolfblood named Raenir. She'd just had her first transformation and was a self-taught fighter. She was well on her way to being a beta wolf. Maybe even an alpha one day. "Raenir, go and get Cirelle out here. Carry her if you have to. See to it that she's wrapped up warm. We need to hold a pack meeting." As he spoke, the healer emerged from a different tent. She must have been darting between them and checking on everyone as she went.

"Alpha, they're almost all dead! Barely anyone's left alive!"

"Tend to the live ones." The alpha ordered. "Let the gods see to the dead. They're beyond our help. Is Cirelle still isolated on her own as I ordered?"

"She is, alpha." The healer nodded.

"Raenir, do as I ask." The alpha pointed to Cirelle's tent. Raenir nodded and hurried off to get the younger Wolfblood. Seconds later she emerged, carrying the cub on her back with animal skin blankets wrapped around her as a makeshift coat. Cirelle looked better than she had, the colour returning to her cheeks and her eyelids twitching as she dreamed.

"What's going on, alpha?" an older Wolfblood asked. The alpha set off without answering and took the pack a short distance from the camp. There he turned to face them, his tone brooking no argument.

"Whatever this plague is, it's killing rapidly. Raenir, I'm sorry but I don't see your parents here. That means there's already no saving them. There are too many dead bodies to save this camp. Even if we did, everything they've slept on is contaminated to the point it could be dangerous to us. When I was a cub, my father was an alpha before me. He told me of a phrase known universally among wild Wolfbloods. A phrase that would allow free habitation of another's territory and even aid from another pack. It's also an emergency measure. As soon as I use it, this entire camp will be burned; the infectees with it whether they're dead or alive. I cannot ask for your help with this, but I will need at least three to join me if we're going to get it underway before the healer realises what we're doing. She's infected too, that means there's truly no alternative here. I don't need your authority to do this. What I ask for here is your understanding."

"We stand with you, alpha." Raenir dropped to one knee in front of him, still holding Cirelle on her back. As the alpha looked at what was left of his pack, each of them followed her in turn. With that, the alpha steeled his resolve and gave the order.

"Waning Moonlight."


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The pack trudged back to the camp with heavy hearts. The plan was simple: They had dry wood in their storage crate. They'd each take a piece, hold it at arms length so the fire wasn't near them and set the camp alight with ample time to get away from it before the flames fully took hold. Raenir was to wait with Cirelle outside the camp grounds so that she wasn't in any danger.

"They neared the camp, bracing themselves for a shock. They braced for a picture of death and suffering so jolting that it would be tattooed on their cerebral cortexes for decades to come. But when they got there, an entirely different surprise awaited them. This one was infinitesimally worse and made the alpha's own face turn pale with worry. All of the bodies were gone.

"Over there!" Raenir pointed to a figure in the middle of the camp. It was the healer. She was on her back in the snow, blood pouring between her fingers as she put pressure on her wounds in a futile attempt to slow the fatal bleeding.

"Stay there and protect Cirelle." The alpha made his way over alone and crouched next to her at a safe enough distance that he shouldn't get sick. "What happened here?"

"It... It... That light... Beautiful... The work of Friogearde himself... Oh, I have wasps in my brain! I feel them gnawing!"

"Speak sense or not at all!" The alpha growled viciously. The healer looked at him, suddenly seeming to realised he was there. "What happened to the bodies?" The healer's response made no sense. It was just a delirious jabbering mess as the ruby staining spread across the snow around her and made it shine like jewels in the moonlight.

"It was incredible. Miraculous... Woke up! The redness just staring..." The alpha had heard enough. He stood up and turned back to the pack.

"I can't get any sense out of her. Let's burn the camp now and get walking. If we find the bodies, we'll take care of them." Raenir took a knee and watched as everyone set to work. The tents went up in an instant. The healer's breathing had also stopped. She was grateful Cirelle wasn't awake to see as the alpha went to burn the body. Suddenly, a noise to her left caught her attention. She looked over to see what looked like a set of Wolfblood eyes ignited and fought the urge to make a sudden move. Instead of the usual golden yellow, these eyes glowed an aggressive red. There was something very wrong with the figure. It stood at a crooked angle, its features looking like they were deformed slightly and a hungry grin splitting its face wide open. As she looked, more and more sets of eyes were lighting up around them in the shadows. These red lights- _deadlights_\- made her mind fly into overdrive. They'd formed an arc around the camp and had the remaining survivors cornered in a pincer movement.

"Alpha!" she called out, causing him to stop in his tracks. The burning torch was inches from the healer's remains when he looked up and saw what she was seeing. "I think I've found the bodies!" At that moment, the other Wolfbloods noticed too. The second they did, one of the red-eyed figures in the shadows let out a piercing scream. All of the others followed suit. Each scream matched the others exactly, as though they were speaking with one voice. That was when they began the charge.

"This isn't all of them!" Harkai called out as he sprinted over to take Cirelle as Raenir drew her flint knife. Harkai was holding one of the territory stakes he'd ripped from the ground and was spinning it one-handed to try and deter their attackers. Intimidation had no effect. These Wolfbloods were moving their way and moving fast. But Harkai was right, it wasn't all of them. He recognised a good few of them, Raenir's mother for one as she charged straight at him. He thrust the stake upwards, putting an end to her. But some of the others weren't as competent at fighting. All around them, six of the remaining pack went down in a flurry of teeth and half-transformed claws. As Harkai took out another one, the stake smashing clean through its head, he looked over to see how Raenir was doing. She'd slashed the windpipe of one with her knife, dropping it to the snow for a few seconds before it began to get back up. Using that time to kick down another one, she drove the knife home into its brain before ripping it out and doing the same with the one she'd kicked over. That was when she froze.

"Father?" Harkai saw what was going on and started sprinting over, but not before Karn had gripped her by the arm and sunk his fangs in. Raenir screamed and tried to shake him off, desperate not to have to hurt him. It was only as Harkai slammed the stake into the dead Wolfblood's neck with enough force to separate the head from the body that his jaws slackened even slightly, allowing her to rip it off and fling it away in disgust.

"Patch that! I'll cover you!" Harkai hefted Cirelle onto his back into a more comfortable angle and held the long wooden stake out in front of him. Raenir crouched, slicing off a piece of animal skin from her coat and wrapping it around the bite wound. Harkai didn't like what he saw. Was he imagining it, or was the flesh around that bite already looking grey? He didn't get to think on it for long though, since another pack member came charging at him. At the same time, he saw the alpha fending for himself across the camp. He'd had a similar idea to Harkai, igniting a wooden territory stake at both ends and spinning it around. The creatures seemed to be driven back a lot more by the fire, seeming to fear it more than even living Wolfbloods did. That was when the healer sat up again. She took a snap at his leg, but he seemed to notice in time and pulled his foot out of the way before thrusting downwards with the burning stake. She ignited instantly and Harkai filed that information away in case they needed it.

Suddenly, everything stopped. One of them screamed again, emitting a noise like nails down a piece of glass. The others all broke off the attack and started shambling away, a couple of the dead who'd gone down in the initial assault getting up and followed them, any trace of humanity gone from their eyes. They shuffled off, the undead seeming to know somehow that they'd done enough. The alpha did a head count. Those still standing totalled himself, Harkai, Raenir, a young male called Alun and another older Wolfblood called Jina. Harkai had Cirelle on his back and the alpha mentally applauded his ability to fight on despite the constraints of age showing a visible toll.

"Is everyone alright?" he asked, looking them over.

"What in the name of the gods was _that_?" Jina spat, a look of disgust crossing her face as she dropped the blood soaked piece of wood. "I beat them worse than a naughty cub and they still got back up!"

"I'm still in one piece." Raenir said, but the alpha noticed she'd tied sheep skin over her forearm and switched her knife to her left hand. Alun seemed to have noticed the same.

"Did one of those things do that to you?" he asked.

"I can fight just as well with my left!" Raenir protested, ignoring the question. It was obvious she was thinking about what the alpha had told them in that camp meeting all those mere moments ago that now felt like a lifetime. If she couldn't prove she was fit to travel and fight, if they thought she was infected in any way, she would be killed and left behind.

"She got caught off guard by her father." Harkai told them. "But both her parents are down now. That means it won't happen again." He swung his gaze to Raenir. "Am I right?"

"Yes, it was just because they were my parents." Raenir instantly warmed to the argument. But she'd spoken too quickly. It hadn't fooled anyone.

"Harkai, if you choose to vouch for her then she's your responsibility." The alpha glared at him.

As they began to debate her current state, Raenir thought fast. There was no way she could be left behind. She wouldn't allow it. She wasn't going to be murdered by her own, burned and left in the snow as an unidentifiable husk. But what if it was already too late? What if she was infected? She'd heard Jamie talking about these things called 'zombie movies' after he'd joined their pack. He'd said they often made the infection transmissible through bites. If this was anything like that, the infection was in her system already and poised to end her life in the same brutal way it had with the rest of the pack.

'_What is your first thought_?' The voice spoke unbidden. It wasn't a thought of her own, yet she answered it without thinking.

'_I'm dying_.' What? That was stupid! She'd suffered a bite wound. She'd suffered them before from animals just the same and she'd been fine.

'_I can help you_. _Call me forward_.' The voice resonated in the same way her wolf did when she used it. Part of her was tempted. It could help her determine what was going on inside and whether she was infected or not. But part of her also felt like it was a terrible idea. Something about it seemed wrong. She'd never heard this voice before and here she was about to trust it. But if it was her wolf, then the fact it was talking to her like this could mean she was now in serious trouble. It could be her only lifeline.

'_Help me_. _Fill me with your strength_. _Let me-_' It flooded into her brain, drowning her thoughts instantly. She couldn't think. She could hardly breathe. The pain was too intense and yet it was glorious. Only too late did she realise her mistake. This thing may have spoken as her wolf, learning to mimic it expertly, but it wasn't her wolf at all. By letting herself call to her wolf, she'd let the sickness use that moment of flux to invade her bloodstream on a much more invasive and personal level than her wolf ever would. She collapsed to the ground with a grin spreading across her face, tears of gratitude pouring from her eyes. But these weren't tears of salt water, instead leaving bloody rivers down her cheeks that welled at her chin. She opened her mouth, a scream escaping identical to the ones the pack had used. She felt like one of them once again. And in the darkness, their own screams echoed hers.

"Goodbye, Raenir." The alpha cast a sad look at her as he raised his burning stake before thrusting it downwards. She ignited before she could make a sound, flopping backwards in the snow. She tried to put herself out, but for some reason the flames just wouldn't die. Furiously, she got up and charged at him. A fighter to the end. Once again, the alpha struck out with the stake. This time, she knew no more.


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

As the alpha touched the burning piece of wood to each body, it ignited as though soaked in oil. Once the grizzly disposal task had been handled, they tried to decide what to do. The alpha crouched down to use Eolas in an attempt to find the nearest wild pack to get help from. Any pack they found would have an obligation to help them as soon as the words Waning Moonlight were uttered. That wasn't the concern. The concern was that most of their _own_ pack were walking around despite having recently died and were capable of spreading the plague to others. This was a fact that had clearly unnerved the survivors and for good reason.

"Are we not going to talk about what just happened there?" Jina asked, nervously biting a nail.

"What about it?" Harkai shrugged, being careful not to lose Cirelle off his back. "Seems to me that we're all in a fair bit of trouble here. We have to kill those things before they reach the humans' civilization. If the secret gets exposed then we're all for it. No Wolfblood, tame or wild, will ever live peacefully again."

"There were maybe fifteen zombies in that massacre and they decimated our already pathetic numbers." Alun jumped in. "Call me a coward, but I'm not eager to go after them after that."

"I was _actually_ talking about what happened with Raenir!" Jina looked ready to snap. "She... She just..."

"Raenir tried to block a bite with her forearm instead of her elbow." Alun shrugged nonchalantly. "She paid the price of stupidity and I got her knife. End of story." He patted his back pocket and undisguised fury boiled inside Harkai at the way he'd openly robbed from the dead.

"No, you're not listening to me!" The older Wolfblood screamed, gripping her hair in frustration. "I mean, what about the rest of us? Some of us are covered in the blood of those... things!"

"You mean those zombies?" Alun pressed, seeming determined to get a reaction.

"Don't say that, Alun." The alpha muttered from where he was crouched. His tone lacked its usual spark, but everyone realised that was probably because most of his focus was on Eolas. "Don't say they're zombies. We've all heard Jamie talking, but however well the description fits it's just a human tale of fiction. We're not calling them that."

"As you wish, alpha." Alun nodded.

"Getting the blood on our skin should be fine, but we should clean it off with snow just in case." Harkai said as he crouched down and started rubbing snow on his hands, rolling up his sleeves and scrubbing off any blood that was on his arms too. He had to be careful of the cub on his back, but was managing well for an old wolf. "What we need to worry about is whether we have any open cuts that we could be infected through. We don't know how long it would take to turn us in that event."

"It seemed pretty fast with Raenir and the others." Jina observed.

"Yes, but they all suffered direct exposure through bites and the initial outbreak." Harkai countered as he continued scrubbing. "The point is that if indirect exposure like that could turn us, some of us could be infected right now. I think the only way to prove we aren't is to show it. We need to strip and prove that we have no marks on our bodies that we could have been infected through."

"You mean take our clothes off?" Jina practically screeched. "Of course a _male_ says that when there's only one female in the group!" She rolled her eyes dramatically. "And don't even _think_ of including little Cirelle in this! She isn't even conscious!"

"No, no. She was on my back throughout the whole thing." Harkai stood up and threw off his animal skin coat, setting Cirelle on it and re-wrapping her in her blanket before removing the shirt that he'd stolen off a washing line.

"What say you to this, alpha?" Alun asked, nervous at the prospect of removing clothing while even more snow was falling.

"Yes." The response was swift and lifeless, but he seemed entranced. He was utterly focused. Sighing and gritting her teeth in fury before throwing off her coat to show her now exposed arms were free from wounds. She lifted her shirt to just below her ribcage and turned slowly so that everyone could see she was uninjured.

"That's as far as I'm going." Her response was resolute and final. Meanwhile, Alun had already thrown off everything on his top half to show he had nothing to hide and was now frantically putting it back on as the freezing white flakes hammered against his torso, the wind cutting straight through him. The alpha had already thrown off his top layers without being asked and still crouched in the snow. The harsh cold's icy teeth must have been hell for him, yet he showed no reaction. Harkai had also begun to throw off layers, not even caring about the cold. The way he saw it, he'd lived long enough to not care about how he went out provided he didn't come back again afterwards.

"See?" Harkai looked to each of them in turn. "So that means none of us are-" As he spoke, the alpha raised his head. The crooked slash of a ravenous grin split his face as he let out a scream and charged. As he did, Alun and Jina saw that his trouser leg had been ripped apart by the healer's teeth. Beneath it, so had the alpha's leg. Strings of muscle hung loose, the cold staunching the blood flow to a minimum. Harkai gave a strangled shout of shock and raised his arms to defend himself, but the alpha was on him in an instant. He pinned him to the ground and sunk his fangs into the old wolf's throat, ripping out a mouthful of tissue and causing blood to stain the snow in a rapidly spreading ocean of red jewels. Without thinking, Alun jumped in and pulled Raenir's knife from his back pocket. He sunk the blade home into the back of the alpha's head, causing him to fall still and drop to the snow before he even knew what had happened.

"Are you going to take care of that?" Jina pointed to Harkai, who was now getting back up. Alun sunk the knife into the soft point on the side of Harkai's head, causing him to hit the snow hard. The flint blade broke off as he pulled it back, leaving only a thin, sharp sliver attached to the handle. Alun put the knife back into his back pocket as Jina glanced around them nervously.

"What now?" he asked, realising that there was now only two of them against an army of the dead.

"Well, I'm taking Cirelle and going to try and find another pack." Jina replied as she started walking behind him, heading towards where Harkai had set Cirelle. "You're staying here." No sooner had her words sunk in than a crippling pain hit him in the inner left thigh. He collapsed to the ground, wanting to pull what was left of Raenir's knife free but scared to in case she'd hit an artery.

"Why?" He screamed at her. But Jina had already grabbed the unconscious cub and disappeared through the tree line. That was when he got his answer. Pairs of eyes ignited in the shadows, their aggressive red light shining through the tree line. They'd come back! To make matters worse, that stab to the head had failed to kill Harkai. He sat back up and let out a scream. It was the signal the rest had been waiting for. Alun didn't even have time to cry out as shapes descended on him, screaming to each other as they did. Deep down, he knew that they weren't going to be letting him come back.

Jina ran as fast as she could, the sleeping cub resting in her arms. She didn't regret what she'd done. Harkai had been stupid and was literally caught with his trousers down. Alun had been a necessity. She didn't have time to stop and use Eolas. She just had to run and pray for the best. If not for her, the gods had to at least let the cub live. If she had to be the instrument of their will to make it happen, then so be it.

She knew escape wouldn't be easy. Red pairs of eyes had been igniting in the shadows every time she'd neared them, forcing her to stick to the clearings and pathways to safely make it through the forest. Everywhere she looked, she could see twisted figures of dead pack members she recognised watching her hungrily from darkness.

As she staggered out into an especially large clearing, she saw something that she'd heard Jamie describe as a helicopter overhead. It had a light attached to the bottom which picked her up in its beam. As it started to descend, one of the pack jumped out and sunk its fangs into her arm. She screamed and dropped Cirelle who rolled into the snow, blood covering one half of her face. She was dead to the world, but still breathing. Jina on the other hand was frantically hammering her free fist into the undead Wolfblood's face. Only then did she realise it was Rajia. As she looked around, more and more faces she knew emerged. Silon, Jamie, Cirelle's mother and father, the trio of young hunters that always brought back the biggest catches. More and more pairs of eyes ignited as they got nearer. It wasn't long before she saw everyone. The whole pack was there. Twenty-seven other figures all watching her with the same predatory stare, the same ravenous and unintelligent grins and the same piercing scream. And as she looked down into Rajia's eyes, for the briefest instant, she couldn't help but think she saw one last glimmer of the Wolfblood she used to know.

A split second later, it didn't matter. Rajia's head exploded, the blood covering the blanket wrapped around Cirelle and splattering across Jina's face. Wolfbloods in combat vests jumped out of the helicopter. They were all moving efficiently as a unit with silenced firearms. They pulled off quick, clean and easy headshots that took out any Wolfbloods that tried to rush them. Their defence faltered for a second as one of the Wolfbloods let out another piercing scream. Suddenly, all the others seemed to get wise and started dodging. They weaved from side-to-side in an effort to keep the gun muzzles away from them.

"They're learning!" one of the Wolfbloods in combat vests called out. "That scream must be how they learn!" With this newfound knowledge, the other Wolfbloods bunched up into a circle as another of the undead charged them. One of the armed Wolfbloods ripped a grenade off his belt and shoved it into the creature's mouth before kicking it away. As the grenade went off, a shower of red rained down over what had now become a battlefield. Upon seeing this, another scream rose up. As it did, a few of the dead started gathering snow and throwing it. The rudimentary weapon served to give them a tremendous advantage as they used the disorientation it caused to press their charge. Screams from further back in the clearing were also coming. Jina guessed Harkai and his group must have also been catching up.

"They can't stand fire!" Jina called out to them desperately as she crawled over on weakened legs to protect Cirelle. The leader of the unit heard this and instantly got on his radio.

"Segolia actual, this is Segolia Delta Two! Requesting danger close on my location trailing north five-hundred meters, commence thirty seconds!" He hung up and nailed another one mid-scream before turning to everyone else. "Get back on the helicopter! We're leaving!" The other Wolfbloods jumped back onto the helicopter as it got ready to leave. The leader extended a hand to Jina, but she refused, turning to show him the bite.

"It's too late for me." She picked up Cirelle and held her out. "Take her. Keep her safe. She's the last of us." The leader nodded and took her, bundling her into the helicopter before climbing in himself. He secured Cirelle into a seat as he made a liftoff gesture to the pilot. Jina watched them take off before turning to face the Wolfbloods she'd grown up alongside, who stared back at her without a glimmer of recognition in their eyes. She started walking towards them, facing them down. They didn't attack, knowing already that they'd done enough.

'_You will be mine, just as all the others will_.' The voice felt invasive in her head. She could tell what it wanted. It wasn't enough to just be infected. This plague wanted to strip away all her quirks, her personality and everything that made her who she was. It wanted to leave a blank slate that learned at a pace it dictated just as it had with all the others. It wanted her soul.

"Even for all the strength and the immortality you offer..." She chose to speak aloud, talking just as much to the undead before her as she did the plague within them and herself. "I reject you. The price is too high. The damage is too great. The defilement is too absolute."

'_A shame then, that you no longer have a choice_.' A crippling pain exploded in Jina's head that resonated through her body. She collapsed to her knees and screamed for all the world to hear. That was when the ordinance hit. She didn't know what it was. She didn't know where it had been fired from. She and all those around her only knew the fire that enveloped them.


	6. Epilogue

Epilogue

In the departing helicopter, the explosions were deafening. They knew there was no keeping it quiet now. A cover up was the only option. They all knew the drill. It would be a terror attack or an accident of some kind. In a weird way, the flames that engulfed the tree canopy looked beautiful in contrast with the dawn breaking on the horizon.

The unit leader sighed, wondering how long it would be before Segolia ran out of excuses to cover this sort of thing up. Despite that, the tip-off they'd had was the best thing that could have happened. Whatever they'd been experimenting with at Harfire Hall with that poppy, it couldn't have been good. It looked like they'd found the answer to why that particular poppy acted so aggressively around Wolfbloods. Most humans just died when exposed. Only a very small percentage came back as the fat man had, and they'd put him down straight away. They only realised what had happened when they found the lab and one of their squad turned. That was it. They'd burned the place down. The cover story would already be being prepared. Harfire Hall was destroyed in an explosion after a gas main running subsurface through the forest floor ruptured. Or something like that. As for the young girl, they could make up any story they liked. With that in mind, the leader looked over at her sleeping peacefully in the seat with a contented smile on her face. Seeing she was in a state, he gestured to one of his team.

"Get the wipes from the trauma kit and clean her up." The other Wolfblood nodded and got up. He got the plastic packet out and sat next to the young cub, taking his helmet off and resting it by his feet. Trying to be gentle, he reached over and carefully started wiping the blood off her face. As he did, the girl's eyes opened; any trace of emotion erased from them. And with that, she screamed.

**Author's Note: Happy Halloween, guys. As promised, this is the final chapter and Epilogue. I will be continuing Fangs of the Forgotten as of next week. If you want to leave a review, feedback is appreciated. **


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